Economy influences choice of college

David Zurawski knows he’ll miss crisp Saturday afternoons in the stadium at Auburn University next fall. But his brokerage account has shrunk and other savings are running out, so he plans to transfer to Kennesaw State University.

“There are so many things I love about Auburn,” he said, “but I can’t afford it right now.”

As unemployment mounts and stock accounts suffer, admissions officers at state colleges report high numbers of Georgia students applying to transfer in —- from out-of-state and private schools, as well as public colleges farther from home.

Tuition for in-state students at Georgia’s public colleges for the fall semester will range from $1,149 for a full schedule at a two-year college to $3,035 at Georgia Tech, Georgia State and the University of Georgia. That compares with tens of thousands of dollars for private-school tuitions.

And the HOPE scholarship program covers the full cost of tuition at Georgia public colleges for students graduating with a B average from high school and maintaining a 3.0 in college classes. Private university students in Georgia also can receive a HOPE grant of $1,750 per semester or $1,166 per quarter, but that doesn’t come close to covering the cost of private-school tuition.

As of April 1, requests for fall transfers were up 25 percent over the year before at Kennesaw State, from 1,160 to 1,448. Georgia State reported a 13 percent increase, from 2,107 to 2,390. Georgia Tech’s transfer applications were up 28 percent, from 1,440 to 1,846. And at the University of Georgia, applications from students wanting to transfer rose from 2,548 to 2,849, an increase of 12 percent.

Kerri Hayes of Jonesboro plans to transfer to Georgia State from private Mercer University in Macon, where this year’s tuition and fees topped $28,000.

“While Mercer is a wonderful college, I can’t afford to send her to that particular school anymore,” said her mother, Marcia Webb-Hayes, who lost her job a few months ago.

With enough financial aid, Hayes would stay at Mercer; but the money she is receiving is not enough.

Both public and private colleges and universities report that more students are seeking more aid in times when university endowments are down and fund-raising is challenging.

For some families, the financial aid package will be the determining factor in deciding where a student starts college.

Take the Brown family of Lithonia.

Their dinner-table conversations these day are likely to be about where Ernest Jr. will go to school. A top student at Southwest DeKalb High School, he was accepted by all four schools to which he applied: Emory, Georgetown and Columbia universities and the University of Georgia.

He’s in love with Columbia and the idea of college in New York. But Emory and UGA have offered full scholarships. Columbia hasn’t.

With three younger children who have college ambitions, Ernest Brown Sr. is pushing his eldest to consider the finances. Brown Sr. has seen layoffs at the software company where he works. Especially in a volatile economy, he wants his son to avoid debt.

Brown Jr. understands his dad’s concern but has his own opinion.

“You only get to go to college once,” he said. “I don’t want debt, but I don’t want to make a decision solely on that consideration.”

Other students have made the leap to expensive colleges only to find themselves as upperclassmen unable to afford their schools. Some are heading home to public institutions.

Lisa Fowler, assistant vice president in charge of enrollment at Georgia Perimeter College, the state’s largest two-year public college, said officials hear the same things over and over from applicants for transfers. They’ve lost scholarships. They can no longer pay tuition at a private school, or room and board at any school. Their parents have lost jobs or investment income.

“The biggest thing we’re seeing is that either students or their parents cannot afford for the students to live out of state or out of town, as opposed to being able to commute,” she said. “Now, we’re seeing more transferring from four-year schools.”

Kennesaw State University officials asked a sampling of transfer applicants their reason for wanting to move. Ability to commute and the economy were among the top reasons, along with academic fit, said Joe Head, Kennesaw’s dean of admissions.

“I think people are reaching for a compromise,” he said. “It all comes back to the economy. I don’t think there’s a motivation this year to jump out there and spend a lot of money.”

Last year, not a single student at private Berry College in Rome applied to transfer to Kennesaw State, Head said. This year, Kennesaw had 21 applications from Berry students as of April 1, well ahead of May and June when transfer applications usually spike.

“It’s the cost of Berry,” Head said.

Tuition and fees at Berry run about $23,000 a year, plus room and board, said spokesman Ricky Woodall. But, he said, 98 percent of the school’s undergraduates received financial aid this school year. And 90 percent of eligible students have pre-registered for fall classes, a percentage comparable to last year’s.

Woodall said Berry has no way of confirming the number of students who have applied to transfer to other colleges.

“Even students who consider transferring may not actually leave,” he said.

Officials at Mercer University have been keeping close watch on the numbers, said spokesman Larry Brumley. But so far, so good.

The retention rate for students returning for spring semester was the best ever —- 96 percent —- Brumley said. Only a handful of students have said they will leave Mercer next fall because of finances, he said.

On the other hand, Mercer has received some applications from students wanting to transfer in, presumably, Brumley said, so they can commute from home.

“We don’t know where this will settle,” he said.

Kerri Hayes’ parents took out a loan to help pay for their only child’s freshman year at Mercer. “We were able to do that until I lost my job,” her mother said.

David Zurawski estimates that he would spend $30,000 in the year and a half he needs to complete a degree in restaurant management at Auburn.

“Kennesaw wouldn’t cost nearly that much,” he said.